Louisiana State Tree
Bald Cypress
Cupressaceae Taxodium distichum
Leaf
Linear and small, 1/4 to 3/4 inch long, green to yellow-green, generally
appearing two-ranked. When growing on deciduous branchlets the leaf-deciduous branchlet structure resembles a feathery pinnately (or bi-pinnately) compound
leaf.
Flower
Males in drooping long panicles. Females are subglobose, peltate scales,
and tend to occur near the end of branches.
Fruit
Cones are composed of peltate scales forming a woody, brown sphere with rough surfaces, 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Cones disintegrate into irregular-shaped seeds.
Twig
May be deciduous or not. Non-deciduous twigs are slender, alternate,
brown, rough, with round buds near the end of the twig. Deciduous twigs are
two-ranked, resembling pinnately compound leaves.
Bark
Fibrous, red-brown but may be gray where exposed to the weather. Old, thick bark may appear somewhat scaly.
Form
A large tree with a pyramid-shaped crown, cylindrical bole, fluted or buttressed base and often with knees.
Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen,
Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson;Silvics reprinted from Ag
Handbook 654; range map source information